A Third Chance
by wizardofahz
Summary: Post-finale one shot. Terra Nova was a second chance. Somehow, Wash has been given a miraculous third, and Taylor is thanking his lucky stars.


Disclaimer: I don't own _Terra Nova_. I only own the emotions and mental anguish that I underwent while watching Wash die.

A/N: After the cruel and unusual punishment that was the finale, I had to write this to feel better. Please ignore whatever scientific nonsense I throw in here. I don't care if it doesn't make sense; it's just a way to bring Wash back to Terra Nova alive. May she live on forever.

…

It started with a freak accident in the med lab.

Then power surges, shimmering objects. Things like that happened with increasing frequency over the course of a few weeks, and no one could figure out how to stop it.

Next thing they knew, a loud sound had drawn a majority of the medical personnel to the lab. They were met with a surprise.

In the lab, gone was the normal equipment, and in its place stood a few medical personnel and patients on hospital beds.

The room's new occupants – who had been enraptured by the sunlight streaming through the window – turned as Elizabeth and the others entered.

A man in a lab coat with horn-rimmed glasses stepped forward. "Hello?"

"Hello," Elizabeth responded and decided to introduce herself. "I'm Doctor Elizabeth Shannon. I'm the –"

She was interrupted by an unexpectedly familiar voice. "Where the hell are we?"

Elizabeth looked at the furthest bed in shock. Lying there was Lieutenant Washington. She clearly wasn't well, but she certainly wasn't dead.

_But it couldn't be_, Elizabeth thought to herself. _It isn't possible._

"Terra Nova. Where are you guys from?" Malcolm asked from behind her.

"2138. Am I right, Wash?"

Wash turned her head to see Commander Taylor standing in the doorway. He looked older than she remembered, but damn if she wasn't happy to see him.

"Commander," she greeted and tried to sit up, only to fall back in pain.

The woman who introduced herself as Dr. Shannon quickly moved to her side and began examining her.

"My goodness, what happened to you?"

The man with horn-rimmed glasses stepped towards them. "She had a few holes blown through her torso." He held his hand out toward her. "Dr. John Crawley. I'm Corporal Washington's doctor."

"Well, Dr. Crawley," Taylor said. "Why don't you and your nurses come with me for a debriefing? Dr. Shannon, I'd like you to stay and check up on Wash and the other patients. The rest of you give them some space."

As the others turned to leave, Wash grabbed Dr. Shannon's arm. "Have we met before?"

"What? No, no, umm… we…" the doctor stuttered, unsure of how to respond.

Wash looked at her suspiciously. "Everyone keeps looking at me like I came back from the dead. I mean, I guess I did. But they kept looking at me like they knew me. _You_ keep looking at me as if you know me."

"I think I'll let Commander Taylor explain," Elizabeth hedged and continued her examination.

…

Taylor watched Wash run with the other soldiers. She had recovered well after arriving in Terra Nova. Doc Shannon had yet to approve her for active duty, but as a field medic, Wash had consulted herself for a second opinion and – much to the Doc's frustration – concluded that she was, at the very least, ready for getting back into shape.

He watched Wash and Reynolds exchange playful nudges at the end of their run and felt a slight pang. Wash had always like Reynolds. Well, Lieutenant Washington had.

Lieutenant Washington.

He wasn't sure he'd ever get over seeing Wash's head snap back as Lucas fired, seeing her fall lifelessly to the ground. He would never admit it to anyone, but Wash had been his rock. After Ayani died, Wash had been there, slowly recovering but still managing to remind him that life was still worth living. In Terra Nova, she stood by him through thick and thin, never wavering and always there if he wanted to reminisce about the past (though he supposed it would now be considered the future).

In the colony, she had known him best; and he, her. (He quickly disregarded any thought of Lucas as it caused nothing but overwhelming pain and anger.)

He had instructed the colony to act as though they were meeting her for the first time. He wanted to give Wash a new start, something that didn't involve a fatal shot to the head.

"Sir?"

Taylor turned to see Wash approaching up the steps. She was slightly breathless, but he was glad to see that she seemed otherwise okay.

"Wash," he greeted. When she fidgeted slightly, he asked, "Everything all right?"

"Did I do something wrong, sir?"

Taylor was taken aback. "Not at all, Wash. Why would you think something like that?"

"You've been watching me like a hawk, sir. Thought maybe I screwed up and lost your trust."

He smiled at her reassuringly. "Just trying to make sure you're ok."

"Aren't I always, sir?" As she said that, a slightly playful smile formed on her lips.

Wash wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she saw him wince.

Taylor indeed couldn't bring himself to joke about that, so instead he said, "Drop all the 'sir's, would you, Wash? You only do that when you're feeling uncomfortable."

"I am feeling slightly off-footed here, Commander," Wash admitted.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll get used to it, Wash. You always do."

…

"Don't you _**EVER**_ do that again!"

Taylor and Wash were in a rover speeding their way back to the colony and hopefully leaving the carnos far, far behind.

"With all due respect, _sir_." The way she dropped the last word demonstrated very clearly that she was vocalizing her thoughts with anything but respect. "If I hadn't done anything, you'd probably be dead."

Taylor fired back, "And if something had gone wrong with that whacked up plan of yours, you'd be dead, and that is something I could not handle again."

He stilled as he realized what he said. Wash looked at him curiously.

"Sir?"

This time the word was laced with confusion

Taylor quickly said, "Forget that I just said that."

_When Wash came back to consciousness after the blast, all she could recognize were numbness, silence, and darkness. Then the sound returned, loud and ringing. If she'd had the energy for it, she would've groaned. Then pain flooded her body, and she began to realize just how difficult breathing was._

"_Wash?" Taylor said as he knelt down beside her. "Corporal, look at me. That's an order!"_

_Her eyes barely opened, but what little of them he could see was clouded with pain._

"_You just got a little bit of shrapnel through you. You'll be ok. Got that, soldier?" _

_He gazed down at her hoping for a response._

"_Sorry, sir," Wash coughed weakly, a mist of blood expelled from her lips. "Don't think I –" She coughed up blood again. "Don't think I can stitch you up."_

_She couldn't see much of him, but she was pretty sure there was a deep gash along the left side of his forehead._

"_That's all right, Wash," Taylor reassured her. When he heard gurgling at the back of her throat, he immediately reached for her shoulders. "I'm going to have to turn you on your side, Wash. Think you can manage that?"_

"_Y'sir," she coughed._

_As he began to move her, the pain intensified. The blackness began to encroach on her once again._

"_Wash?" she heard his frantic voice call out. "Wash, stay with me."_

_She tried to keep the darkness back, but she must've failed because she didn't remember anything after that._

Wash shook the memories from her head. "I'm still here, sir. I may have died briefly in Somalia, but they brought me back. I'm still here."

He stared straight ahead refusing to look at her. "I know you are, Wash."

"Then what is it?" Wash hesitated before asking, "Is it Ayani, sir?"

"Wash, just leave it alone please."

His tone said more than his words, and so she said, "Sorry, sir," and followed his lead, staring silently out the rover window for the rest of the ride.

…

If Taylor were to be honest, he'd admit to himself – and himself only – that his last argument with Wash had been born of something rather small and stupid.

He had denied her request to go OTG with a team that didn't include him. Having grown frustrated with his strange over attentiveness and overly protective behavior, she had snapped. He would've been able to handle it – should've been able to really – but then she used the phrase "keep [her] safe and sound", and he exploded.

After that Taylor finally decided to sit Wash down and tell her everything. He wasn't going to waste his third chance with her arguing day and night. Terra Nova, as a second chance, was a blessing. This third chance… Well, he didn't know what it was (though the word 'miracle' came to mind), but he sure as hell knew he wasn't going to screw it up anymore.

He explained all of it – her place within the colony as his second-in-command, her death at his son's hand. He finished by saying, "This is my third chance with you, Wash. I'll be damned if I fail you again."

He waited for her to say something, but she said nothing.

When she finally spoke, she was so quiet he could barely hear her. "You didn't fail me, sir."

"I was trying to keep you safe. Instead I got you killed. If that isn't failing you, I don't know what is."

Wash looked him in the eye. "We both did our jobs, sir."

"Somalia ended with you being med-evac'ed out; Terra Nova with you dying. Wash, I –"

She interrupted him. "We're soldiers, sir. We were both doing our jobs both times. And you probably don't want to hear this, but I'd do it again, sir."

She was right. That wasn't something he wanted to hear, especially not now. So like before, he switched gears. "I mean it this time, Wash. Stop calling me 'sir'."

She was about to respond with an instinctive "Yes, sir" but managed to stop herself. "What do I call you instead then? Commander?"

"You can call me 'Taylor'. A lot of the civilians do. You can even call me 'Nathaniel'. You didn't do it much. You were – sorry, are – too much of a soldier to be that informal, but you managed to call me that a few times."

Wash grinned at his rambling. "Can the chatter, Nathaniel."

He never thought he'd smile at hearing those words – her last words to him – again, but in spite of himself, he grinned.

It was good to have her again.

…

fin

_Thanks for reading!_


End file.
